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The universal applicability of polymer materials in microelectronics is based on
the wide adaptability of their thermo-mechanical as well as fracture
characteristics. These materials have strong time and temperature dependent
mechanical properties and are sensitive to moisture. In this paper the effects of
temperature and moisture on the thermo-mechanical and fracture properties of
thermosetting polymers are studied. Moisture induces a reduction in glass
transition temperature, changes the elastic stiffness slightly and degrades the
fracture toughness of polymer determination. For the Analysis of fracture
toughness, miniaturized CT specimens are initially pre-cracked. Strain fields
around the crack-tip at the moment of crack-onset are later determined by gray
scale correlation technique and mapped to finite-element analysis for the
determination of energy release rate, considering the effect of moisture,
temperature and visco elasticity. This work provides a unique method for the
analysis of moisture-induced cracking in encapsulated devices.